and there are many pretexts for expanding government. >> hockenberry: opposing government action on climate change to defend american freedom is a perfect fit. >> we felt that if you concede the science is settled and there is a consensus, you cannot... the moral high ground has been ceded to the alarmists. >> hockenberry: so you had to go to work and break down this consensu >> yes. and we did it because we believed that the consensus was phony. we believed that the so-called global warming consensus was not based on science but was a political consensus, which included a number of scientists. >> hockenberry: in 2009, agreement on global warming seemed part of the solid wave of enthusiasm that elected barack obama. with the changing of the guard in washington, there was a bipartisan call to action, a sense of inevitability. >> madam speaker, the president of the united states. >> hockenberry: an idea that for years had struggled for attention in congress would get its moment of truth. >> so i ask this congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution... >>